Raised cane with a small toddler Saturday: I offered it to her, she got it, walked away on me, teased me over her shoulder with an impish grin and then turned back all the way around and carried the trophy over her head, presenting it way high to me. So big!
I would say thank you with a big smile and a slight bow. She would grab the cane back. Repeat.
I tried a variation where I asked for it when she was only a few steps away; that was breaking the rules of our new game and she said No! with a little dance. She knew how to say that word.
And so we went on for some time. Twice, someone tried to rescue me, stranded in the luncheon crowd without my balance-on-a-stick. I told them we were fine, no problems.
Richard’s cousin’s second daughter might not remember much later, but in this crowd of family but strangers to the little one I wanted her to come away knowing she was loved and to be happy she was there. And her big sister too. And that, that was worth the sitting and the giggling for a little while aside from the adult conversations.
Not to mention how fun it is to have a toddler accept you as her friend.